The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos - Neatorama Neatorama • 4 You see these opening logos every time you go to the movies, but have you ever wondered who is the boy on the moon in the DreamWorks logo? Or which mountain inspired the Paramount logo? Or who was the Columbia Torch Lady? Let's find out: 1. DreamWorks SKG: Boy on the Moon In 1994, director Steven Spielberg, Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, and record producer David Geffen (yes, they make the initial SKG on the bottom of the logo) got together to found a new studio called DreamWorks. Spielberg wanted the logo for DreamWorks to be reminiscent of Hollywood's golden age. The logo was to be a computer generated image of a man on the moon, fishing, but Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren of Industrial Light and Magic, who has worked on many of Spielberg's films, suggested that a hand-painted logo might look better. Muren asked his friend, artist Robert Hunt to paint it. Hunt also sent along an alternative version of the logo, which included a young boy on a crescent moon, fishing. Spielberg liked this version better, and the rest is history.

Oh, and that boy? It was Hunt's son, William. The DreamWorks logo that you see in the movies was made at ILM from paintings by Robert Hunt, in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Films (designers of the original storyboards), Dave Carson (director), and Clint Goldman (producer) at ILM. Photo courtesy of Robert Hunt - Thanks for the neat story, Robert! 2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): Leo The Lion In 1924, studio publicist Howard Dietz designed the "Leo The Lion" logo for Samuel Goldwyn's Goldwyn Picture Corporation. He based it on the athletic team of his alma mater Columbia University, the Lions. When Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, the newly formed MGM retained the logo. Since then, there have been five lions playing the role of "Leo The Lion". The first was Slats, who graced the openings of MGM's silent films from 1924 to 1928. The next lion, Jackie, was the first MGM lion whose roar was heard by the audience.

Though the movies were silent, Jackie's famous growl-roar-growl sequence was played over the phonograph as the logo appeared on screen. He was also the first lion to appear in Technicolor in 1932. The third lion and probably most famous was Tanner (though at the time Jackie was still used concurrently for MGM's black and white films). After a brief use of an unnamed (and very mane-y) fourth lion, MGM settled on Leo, which the studio has used since 1957. The company motto "Ars Gratia Artis" means "Art for Art's Sake." Sources: MGM Media Center | Wikipedia entry on " Leo The Lion " 3. 20th Century Fox: The Searchlight Logo In 1935, Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Film Company (back then mainly a theater-chain company) merged to create Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (they later dropped the hyphen). The original Twentieth Century Pictures logo was created in 1933 by famed landscape artist Emil Kosa, Jr. After the merger, Kosa simply replaced "Pictures, Inc." with "Fox" to make the current logo.

Besides this logo, Kosa was also famous for his matte painting of the Statue of Liberty ruin at the end of the Planet of the Apes (1968) movie, and others. Perhaps just as famous as the logo is the "20th Century Fanfare", composed by Alfred Newman, then musical director for United Artists. 4. Paramount: The Majestic Mountain Paramount Pictures Corporation was founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor, and the theater moguls the Frohman brothers, Daniel and Charles. The Paramount "Majestic Mountain" logo was first drawn as a doodle by W.W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Zukor, based on the Ben Lomond Mountain from his childhood in Utah (the live action logo made later is probably Peru's Artesonraju). It is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo. The original logo has 24 stars, which symbolized Paramount's then 24 contracted movie stars (it's now 22 stars, though no one could tell me why they reduced the number of stars). The original matte painting has also been replaced with a computer generated mountain and stars.

Paramount logo history, for more details, see: CLG Wiki 5. Warner Bros.: The WB Shield Warner Bros. (yes, that's legally "Bros." not "Brothers") was founded by four Jewish brothers who emigrated from Poland: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. Actually, those aren't the names that they were born with. Harry was born "Hirsz," Albert was "Aaron," Sam was "Szmul," and Jack was "Itzhak." Their original surname is also unknown - some people said that it is "Wonsal," "Wonskolaser" or even Eichelbaum, before it was changed to "Warner." (Sources: Doug Sinclair | Tody Nudo's Hollywood Legends ) In the beginning, Warner Bros. had trouble attracting top talents. In 1925, at the urging of Sam, Warner Bros. made the first feature-length "talking pictures" (When he heard of Sam's idea, Harry famously said "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"). That got the ball rolling for the studio and made Warner Bros. famous. The Warner Bros. logo, the WB Shield, has actually gone many revisions.

Jason Jones and Matt Williams of CLG Wiki have the details: Warner Bros. Logo History - see the full details at CLG Wiki If you're interested in WB cartoons, you can't go wrong with Dave Mackey's Field guide: Link 6. Columbia Pictures: The Torch Lady Columbia Pictures was founded in 1919 by the brothers Harry and Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales. Many of the studio's early productions were low-budget affairs, so it got nicknamed "Corned Beef and Cabbage." In 1924, the brothers Cohn bought out Brandt and renamed their studio Columbia Pictures Corporation in effort to improve its image. Vintage Columbia Pictures Logo (Source: Reel Classics ) The studio's logo is Columbia, the female personification of America. It was designed in 1924 and the identity of the "Torch Lady" model was never conclusively determined (though more than a dozen women had claimed to be "it.") In her 1962 autobiography, Bette Davis claimed that Claudia Dell was the model, whereas in 1987 People Magazine named model and Columbia bit-actress Amelia Batchler as the girl.

In 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times named a local woman who worked as an extra at Columbia named Jane Bartholomew as the model. Given how the logo has changed over the years, it may just be that all three were right! ( Source ) The current Torch Lady logo was designed in 1993 by Michael J. Deas , who was commissioned by Sony Pictures Entertainment to return the lady to her "classic" look. Though people thought that actress Annette Bening was the model, it was actually a Louisiana homemaker and muralist named Jenny Joseph that modeled the Torch Lady for Deas. Rather than use her face, however, Deas drew a composite face made from several computer-generated features (Source: Roger Ebert , Photo: Kathy Anderson) Obviously, we're missing the stories of the logos of many other film studios. We'd love to hear from you if you know any! Please tell us in the comment section. If you like this article, please check out Neatorama's articles on logos: Stu- Stu- Studio | 10 Movie Studio Logos and the Stories Behind Them | TIME.com By Wook Kim Sept.

21, 2012 Courtesy of Dream Works Whether you consider them as familiar (and curious) relics of a bygone age—or as annoying wastes of time—the studio logos that run before every film you see at the multiplex have long been a part of the whole movie-going experience. In this gallery we’ll take reveal the stories behind some of these symbols—from the snow-capped peak of Paramount’s iconic “Mount Majestic” to the young lunar fisherman that lets you know you’re watching a DreamWorks film. So dim the lights, raise the curtains, and let the show begin… Paramount | 10 Movie Studio Logos and the Stories Behind Them | TIME.com By Wook Kim Sept. 21, 2012 Courtesy of Paramount Pictures FOUNDED: 1912 TWO-SENTENCE HISTORY: Hollywood’s oldest surviving studio quickly earned a reputation for finding and signing the biggest stars of the day—from Mary Pickford and Douglass Fairbanks (who would go on to co-found United Artists) in the 1920s to Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper a decade later.

Dogged by various legal and financial problems, Paramount was on the brink of insolvency by the late ’60s, until fortunes were reversed by a string of commercial and critical successes—the company is now part of Viacom. MEMORABLE FILMS INCLUDE: Double Indemnity (1944), Roman Holiday (1953), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), the Godfather movies (1972-1990) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984) THE LOGO: According to industry lore, Paramount’s enduring symbol—the “Majestic Mountain”—evolved from a sketch on a scrap of paper by “the Man Who Invented Hollywood,” W.W. Hodkinson . ( Ben Lomond Mountain in Utah is thought to be the inspiration, though the latest versions are supposedly modeled on a peak in the Peruvian Andes . What’s also changed over the years is the number of stars that form the semi-circular constellation around the peak. The original logo had 24 stars (for each of the two dozen actors under contract in 1916)—the latest version now has 22.

VERSIONS: A history of the Paramount logo, from 1925 to 2011, can be found here . Steven Spielberg’s great use of the logo in Raider of the Lost Ark can be seen here . The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos | s13ky The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos In History , Movies , Trivias on December 12, 2008 at 10:20 am You see these opening logos every time you go to the movies, but have you ever wondered who is the boy on the moon in the DreamWorks logo? Or which mountain inspired the Paramount logo? Or who was the Columbia Torch Lady? Let’s find out: 1. DreamWorks SKG: Boy On The Moon In 1994, director Steven Spielberg, Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, and record producer David Geffen (yes, they make the initial SKG that stands for Spielberg-Katzenberg-Geffen on the bottom of the logo) got together to found a new studio called DreamWorks. Spielberg wanted the logo for DreamWorks to be reminiscent of Hollywood’s golden age.

The logo was to be a computer generated image of a man on the moon, fishing, but Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren of Industrial Light and Magic, who has worked on many of Spielberg’s films, suggested that a hand-painted logo might look better. Muren asked his friend, artist Robert Hunt to paint it. Hunt also sent along an alternative version of the logo, which included a young boy on a crescent moon, fishing. Spielberg liked this version better, and the rest is history. Oh, and that boy? It was Hunt’s son, William. The DreamWorks logo that you see in the movies was made at Industrial Light & Magic from paintings by Robert Hunt, in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Films (designers of the original storyboards), Dave Carson (director), and Clint Goldman (producer) at ILM. 2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): Leo The Lion In 1924, studio publicist Howard Dietz designed the “Leo The Lion” logo for Samuel Goldwyn’s Goldwyn Picture Corporation. He based it on the athletic team of his alma mater Columbia University, the Lions. When Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures Corporation and Louis B.

Mayer Pictures, the newly formed MGM retained the logo. Since then, there have been five lions playing the role of “Leo The Lion”. The first was Slats, who graced the openings of MGM’s silent films from 1924 to 1928. The next lion, Jackie, was the first MGM lion whose roar was heard by the audience. Though the movies were silent, Jackie’s famous growl-roar-growl sequence was played over the phonograph as the logo appeared on screen. He was also the first lion to appear in Technicolor in 1932. The third lion and probably most famous was Tanner (though at the time Jackie was still used concurrently for MGM’s black and white films). After a brief use of an unnamed (and very mane-y) fourth lion, MGM settled on Leo, which the studio has used since 1957. The company motto “Ars Gratia Artis” means “Art for Art’s Sake.” 3.

20th Century Fox: The Searchlight Logo In 1935, Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Film Company (back then mainly a theater-chain company) merged to create Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (they later dropped the hyphen). The original Twentieth Century Pictures logo was created in 1933 by famed landscape artist Emil Kosa, Jr. After the merger, Kosa simply replaced “Pictures, Inc.” with “Fox” to make the current logo. Besides this logo, Kosa was also famous for his matte painting of the Statue of Liberty ruin at the end of the Planet of the Apes (1968) movie, and others. Perhaps just as famous as the logo is the “20th Century Fanfare”, composed by Alfred Newman, then musical director for United Artists. 4. Paramount Pictures: The Majestic Mountain Paramount Pictures Corporation was founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor, and the theater moguls the Frohman brothers, Daniel and Charles. The Paramount “Majestic Mountain” logo was first drawn as a doodle by W.W.

Hodkinson during a meeting with Zukor, based on the Ben Lomond Mountain from his childhood in Utah (the live action logo made later is probably Peru’s Artesonraju). It is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo. The original logo has 24 stars, which symbolized Paramount’s then 24 contracted movie stars (it’s now 22 stars, though no one could tell me why they reduced the number of stars). The original matte painting has also been replaced with a computer generated mountain and stars. 5. Warner Bros.: The WB Shield Warner Bros. (yes, that’s legally “Bros.” not “Brothers”) was founded by four Jewish brothers who emigrated from Poland: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. Actually, those aren’t the names that they were born with.

Harry was born “Hirsz,” Albert was “Aaron,” Sam was “Szmul,” and Jack was “Itzhak.” Their original surname is also unknown – some people said that it is “Wonsal,” “Wonskolaser” or even Eichelbaum, before it was changed to “Warner.” (Sources: Doug Sinclair | Tody Nudo’s Hollywood Legends ) In the beginning, Warner Bros. had trouble attracting top talents. In 1925, at the urging of Sam, Warner Bros. made the first feature-length “talking pictures” (When he heard of Sam’s idea, Harry famously said “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”). That got the ball rolling for the studio and made Warner Bros. famous. The Warner Bros. logo, the WB Shield, has actually gone many revisions. Jason Jones and Matt Williams of CLG Wiki have the details: 6. Columbia Pictures: The Torch Lady Columbia Pictures was founded in 1919 by the brothers Harry and Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales.

Many of the studio’s early productions were low-budget affairs, so it got nicknamed “Corned Beef and Cabbage.” In 1924, the brothers Cohn bought out Brandt and renamed their studio Columbia Pictures Corporation in effort to improve its image. The studio’s logo is Columbia, the female personification of America. It was designed in 1924 and the identity of the “Torch Lady” model was never conclusively determined (though more than a dozen women had claimed to be “it.”) In her 1962 autobiography, Bette Davis claimed that Claudia Dell was the model, whereas in 1987 People Magazine named model and Columbia bit-actress Amelia Batchler as the girl. In 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times named a local woman who worked as an extra at Columbia named Jane Bartholomew as the model. Given how the logo has changed over the years, it may just be that all three were right!. The current Torch Lady logo was designed in 1993 by Michael J.

Deas , who was commissioned by Sony Pictures Entertainment to return the lady to her “classic” look.Though people thought that actress Annette Bening was the model, it was actually a Louisiana homemaker and muralist named Jenny Joseph that modeled the Torch Lady for Deas. Rather than use her face, however, Deas drew a composite face made from several computer-generated features. Pictures are courtesy of flickr. Source: Neatorama Gw sempet disetrap sama photobucket gara-gara kelebihan bandwidth he he he akmal eky 150,730 hits Categories Ads Amazing Automotive Bric-a-brac Campaign Cerebral Palsy Education Family Funny Health History Hobbies Languages Lighter Sides Medical Movies Music Obituary Photography Pop Products History Sports Trivias Unique World History DISCLAIMER All PHOTOS and ILLUSTRATIONS in this blog are either from private archive or VARIOUS SOURCES around the WEB. Please feel free to CONTACT should any of the images portrayed in one of the posts belongs to you. I'd be delighted to write YOU a credit. Some of the posts might also APPEAR on other URLs but don't be alarmed since I NEVER have any intentions to CLAIM any of those as mine.

Discover the Extraordinary Origins of Famous Movie Studio Logos Follow Us Discover the Extraordinary Origins of Famous Movie Studio Logos Ever wondered how the different movie studios came up with the logos they splash across the screen just as a movie is about to start? This Buzzle article reveals the story behind them. Take a look! Advertisement Everyone who has ever watched a movie knows what a movie studio logo is. By the time moviegoers reach a certain age, we're so accustomed to seeing those ubiquitous graphic displays that they are instantly recognizable. And over the years, these logos have entered popular culture, wherein other films or filmmakers have incorporated these logos, either paying tribute or poking fun at them. One thing is for certain though, movie logos are integral to movies. But those logos aren't just trivial marketing material thrown together by an art department; some of them have long and colorful histories behind them. Let's take a look at their histories in the section below. History of Movie Studio Logos Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) MGM's "Leo the Lion" was designed in 1924 by Howard Deitz, an MGM studio publicist. At that time, the studio was Goldwyn Picture Corporation, owned by Samuel Goldwyn.

Dietz based his design on the athletic mascot of his Columbia University, his alma mater. Later, when Goldwyn Pictures merged with Louis B. Mayer Pictures and Metro Pictures Corporation, the new company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, retained the Leo the Lion logo. Since the merge, seven lions have been used to portray Leo. The first lion, named Slats, was a stalwart of the silent films from MGM between 1924 and 1928. The second lion, named Jackie, was responsible for the first roar from an MGM lion ever heard by an audience. Although the movies were still silent, Jackie's roar was played on a phonograph in the theater while the logo was displayed on the screen. Later, Jackie was the first lion to be shown in Technicolor in 1932. Then came Telly and Coffee between 1927-1934, who were used for the two two-strip technicolor variations of the MGM logo. The next lions were Tanner, who was used from 1934-1956, and George, who had a thick and luxurious mane was used from 1956-1958.

The last lion was Leo, and MGM has used him as their mascot since 1957. The motto beneath Leo's picture is "Ars Grata Artis", menaing Art for Art's Sake. Columbia Pictures In 1919, brothers Harry and Jack Cohn teamed up with Joe Brandt to found Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales. Because many of their early films were low-budget movies, the company was given the nickname "Corned Beef and Cabbage" films. The Cohn brothers bought Brandt's portion of the studio in 1924, and renamed it Columbia Pictures Corporation, hoping to improve the image of the company and erase the silly nickname from their public image. The logo that the Cohn brothers chose to use for their new studio was Columbia, the woman holding a torch who was representative of America personified. Although more than a dozen women have claimed through the years to have been the model for the "Torch Lady," no one has ever conclusively revealed who the actual model was.

Bette Davis claimed in her 1962 autobiography that the model was Claudia Dell; People Magazine said in 1987 that a small-time actress named Amelia Batchler was the girl; the Chicago-Sun-Times claimed in 2001 that a local woman, Jane Bartholomew, who worked at Columbia was the model who posed for the logo. The Torch Lady currently in use by Columbia was designed by Michael Deas in 1993. Sony Pictures commissioned Deas to redesign the logo to return the "classic" look of the original. At that time, many people thought that actress Annette Bening had been used as the model for the logo. But it was actually Jenny Joseph, an actress and muralist from Louisiana. Instead of using just her face, however, Deas created a composite from by adding computer-generated features to Joseph's face. 20th Century Fox In 1933, the famous landscape artist Emil Kosa, Jr., designed the famous searchlight logo for Twentieth Century Pictures film studio. The company merged with Fox Film Company in 1935. At that time, Fox was primarily a company that owned theater chains, not a movie studio.

After the two companies merged, Kosa retained the same logo, but merely changed the name from Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc., to Twentieth Century Fox. The music for the logo, which is just as easily recognized as the logo itself, is the "20th Century Fanfare," which was composed by the musical director of United Artists, Alred Newman. Years later, Kosa became famous for creating the matte painting of the ruined Statue of Liberty seen at the end of the movie Planet of the Apes in 1968. DreamWorks SKG In 1993, three of the biggest powerhouses in the movie industry ― Steven Spielberg, Disney studio chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and record producer, David Geffen, got together to create a new movie studio named DreamWorks. Yes, you guessed that right! SKG in the logo written below stands for the surnames of these three people. Spielberg had the idea of making a logo that would be reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood. The original logo was supposed to be a computer-generated picture of a man standing on the moon, fishing.

However, during discussions, Dennis Muren, the Visual Effects Supervisor of Industrial Light and Magic, suggested to Spielberg that a hand-painted image might look nicer and have a more nostalgic feel. Spielberg, who had worked with Muren on many films, liked the idea. Muren had the painting done by Robert Hunt, an artist friend of his. When he delivered the completed logo, Hunt included an alternate version that showed a young boy sitting on a crescent moon, holding a fishing pole with its line in the water. Spielberg immediately liked that version, so that was the final version chosen. The model for the boy was Hunt's young son, William. Paramount Paramount's "Majestic Mountain" logo started out as a doodle on a napkin, drawn by W. W. Hodkinson while he was meeting with Adolph Zukor, one of the founders of Famous Players Film Company, which later became Paramount in 1912. Hodkinson drew the mountain from a childhood memory of the Ben Lomond Mountain in Utah. A later version of the mountain, which is live action and not a still image, is probably based on Peru's Artesonraju.

The original Paramount logo contains 24 stars, symbolizing the 24 movie stars that were contracted to the studio at that time. The stars now number 22, although no one really knows why the number was reduced. The matte painting that was the basis for the original logo has been replaced with a computer-generated landscape and stars. Paramount's "Majestic Mountain" is the oldest surviving film logo in Hollywood today. Warner Bros. The Warner Bros. logo, the shield, has undergone a series of changes. Since 1923, it has changed about 13 times. The original and first version had a shield, with the picture of the exterior of their studio on the upper half and the WB initials in the bottom half, although it is unclear why they chose a shield. From 1929-1936, the picture of the studio disappeared and the WB initials occupied the whole shield and shared the logo with Vitaphone to show that their movies had sound. The next version of the logo showed the shield being zoomed in out of the clouds. After that, came a logo with more depth, having a banner of 'Warner Bros.

Pictures Inc.' over the shield between 1938-1948, followed by a colored version of the logo. In 1967, Jack Warner sold off their control to Seven Arts, Inc., and the studio was renamed to Warner Bros. - Seven Arts. The logo was changed to 'W7' in shield for a brief period of time. Between 1972 and 1984, the shield was dropped altogether and a stylized logo was used, which is currently the logo for Warner Music Group. In 1984, the older logo returned, with not many changes in it. However, the corporate names below the shield have changed over the years, with the shield remaining the same. Universal The Universal Pictures' has seen a number of changes throughout its history, but with the globe always being the centerpiece. In 1914, came the first logo featuring Saturn-like rings that surrounded the globe. In 1920s, the logo underwent a major change with an airplane flying around the spinning globe, leaving behind a trail by smoke that formed into the studio's name.

In the 1930s and 1940s, sparkling stars were added around the spinning globe. In 60s, a colored version of the logo was introduced that added translucent rings, which was used till 1990. In 1997, the logo showed a spinning globe at sunrise. In 2012, a brand new logo was made to celebrate 100th anniversary of the studio, which shows the globe spinning at sunset. Walt Disney Pictures You'll be surprised to know that Walt Disney Pictures did not use any logo until 1985. Various styles of the words 'Walt Disney Presents..' were created and used. In 1985, the 'Magic Castle' logo revealing itself on a blue background was introduced. In 2006, more detailed and artistic versions of the castle and background were introduced. So, this was the history of the logos of some of your favorite movies' production houses. For all those who have been watching these logos over the years, feels nostalgic, doesn't it?

Buzzle Staff Critiquing the Major Film Studio Logos | WohlWorld Critiquing the Major Film Studio Logos leave a comment » About 90% of the money paid to see a movie in North America goes toward one produced or distributed by one of the six “major” film studios. These are mega-profitable, highly visible corporations that nevertheless usually don’t have a lot of brand distinction between them. A movie is a movie is a movie, for the most part, and I don’t know anyone in today’s world who associates any one major with a particular type or quality of product (with the one exception probably being Disney). Yet each company has a rich history and an identity they try to convey to indifferent viewers, probably more for the sake of tradition and corporate pride than for advertising or branding purposes. The way they do that is through their animated logos which they slap in front of their releases. I decided to examine these little-scrutinized industry totems and review those of the six majors. Here are my conclusions: Columbia Pictures “Columbia” dresses up as a Men in Black.

Columbia’s logos over the years have varied as to whether they zoom in to or out of the torch’s light, but all have featured “Columbia,” who looks exactly like Annette Bening, and is supposed to be a female personification of the United States. (A little ironic for a studio owned today by Japanese conglomerate Sony.) The latest iteration, which has been in place since the early ’90s, contains some rich detail and color, especially in the clouds. I think it would be cool if those clouds were animated to move in a more noticeable way, but it’s still an impressive feat to make clouds so visually interesting. This logo also features a lens flare big enough to embarrass J.J. Abrams , which was certainly not the case in the logo’s early years, when lens flare was thought of as an unacceptable error rather than the cinematographic weapon it is today. Although the scene is presented about as attractively as it can be, this logo feels a little off to me. Its patriotism, even after being toned down—the blue drape Columbia holds used to be an American flag—doesn’t seem all that relevant to the idea of movies; the symbol isn’t evocative of much other than silver dollars and World War I propaganda .

I really like, however, how the studio lets their mascot have fun: She wears sunglasses and holds a neuralyzer for Men in Black, and in a bizarre meta-joke, had her face replaced with that of the real Annette Bening for her 2000 film What Planet Are You From. Paramount Pictures Like most of the logos in this list (movie studios rarely go with a full re-brand, I’ve discovered), the Paramount logo has changed from one variation to another of the same theme for the entirety of the studio’s existence. I had always assumed the mountain depicted was supposed to be the Matterhorn , but it’s a bit too misshapen, and possibly a bit too associated with another company , to be it. The logo’s original designer was a Utah native and many have suggested it could have been inspired by any number of peaks in the Wasatch Range. But if there’s one mountain in the world that most resembles the Paramount peak’s current form, it has to be Peru’s Artesonraju . Anyway, the identity of the mountain is irrelevant; the question is, how does it function as a logo?

I would say this logo does a lot with relatively little, and the stars that ring the mountain are the unsung heroes here. For decades, their appearance came spontaneously . Starting in 1986, they approached from downstage right . And after 2002, they descended from the heavens . As you can see in the logo above, the new 100th anniversary one adds some new wrinkles including the stars taking a meandering, leisurely skip across a lake and a bright sun in back of the mountain. I give Paramount credit for making such an obtuse, formerly static symbol interesting. It doesn’t have much to do with movies or anything else really, but something about it just feels right. Twentieth Century Fox The monument topped with a huge “20th” predates the company itself, as it was originally used by Twentieth Century Pictures before its merger with Fox Films in 1935. The gleaming Art Deco colossus is a splendid thing to center a movie studio logo around, because it belongs to a certain design era that everyone associates with Classical Hollywood. Until 1994, the image was stationary; only after then was the twirling view of a CGI Los Angeles cityscape introduced.

The first iteration included a number of easter eggs to be found in the signage on buildings, including, for instance, “Murdoch’s Department Store.” The version seen above was updated within the last few years but is largely unchanged, as the most visible difference to the old CGI one is the addition of palm trees surrounding the spotlights. I’m wholly in support of this. The more classic Hollywood tropes they can cram in there, the better. I like this logo a lot because it’s sort of like a slightly more reality-bound version of the new Disney one. In this case the fantasy world isn’t one of medieval legend but an idealized, romantic Hollywood, and it feels alive, with individual buildings and moving cars and the Hollywood sign. I think they could probably do more with the idea—how about throwing in a majestic old movie palace marquee or two?—but I still think this is one of the best studio logos there is. Universal Studios This is one logo that has benefited a lot from the development of CGI in my opinion.

Its extraterrestrial vantage point was ambitious when it became the first still-operating American film studio to be founded in 1912 (beating Paramount by a few months); early renditions of the logo were obviously of the scale model-on-a-matte-background variety, and it stayed that way pretty much until the ’90s. It was only then that the magic of 0s and 1s could provide the vivid detail we see today. The 100th anniversary logo seen above takes, aside from the huge interstellar cloud it has the Earth residing in front of, a very realistic approach to to the globe. This includes depicting the luminescent signs of human inhabitance, a decision that I’m not sure how I feel about. For sheer aesthetics, I think I preferred the late ’90s and ’00s version with an Earth that was shimmering with white light and comprised of the brilliant rainbow of hues normally reserved for topographical maps. To its credit though, the new one is a tiny bit less Americentric, as it doesn’t conclude with North America perfectly centered.

(The Earthcentrism of the company’s name referencing the universe but only focusing on our planet is another issue.) All in all, this is definitely a logo I can get behind. I like anything in space, the globe is an instantly recognizable icon, and the subtextual message—that through movies you can have a world of experiences—is a comforting one. Walt Disney Pictures The Disney logo of my youth holds a good deal of nostalgia but it was looking aged by the mid-2000s. Knowing nothing but the two-tone, two-dimensional representation of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, the 3D, flag-fluttering version that preceded Toy Story (and a few other Disney/Pixar films after it) was a bit of a shock. But nothing prepared us for the staggering orgy of color, sound and visual information contained within the current Disney logo. It starts in space, focusing on the star to be wished upon from Pinocchio, along with the “second star to the left” from Peter Pan. The camera swoops over an ocean, multiple rivers, an expansive network of small villages, a large sailing ship and a steam locomotive before settling before an amalgam of Sleeping Beauty Castle and Walt Disney World’s Cinderella Castle.

I love this logo. If you look really closely, you can see numerous individual buildings and trees, a network of roads, docks extending into the rivers, another faraway castle-like structure, and an entirely different landmass beyond the sea. On its bad days, Disney can feel sterile and like a soulless simplification of everything; that feeling is not to be found in this logo. it presents a breathing universe that represents Disney’s position as a modern custodian of timeworn myths and implies that that universe can be explored and lived in rather than only known of at the basest level. Essentially, I want to play an open-world video game taking place inside the Disney logo, and I’m impressed when any 30-second clip of anything gives me that feeling. Warner Bros. Unfortunately, I think there is a clear last place among the six majors’ logos, and it is occupied by Warner Bros. Although they’ve gone through some interesting minimalist periods , the gold shield as we see today has been pretty much the same as long as it’s been their logo. I have a number of issues with it, and the fact that it’s hard not to think of Looney Tunes when looking at it is the least of them.

Biggest of all is the opening view of the sequence, in which we see a warped, gold-stained aerial shot of what I presume are Warner’s studios. Like I mentioned with the Fox logo, I applaud attempts to showcase imagery that evoke the essence of Hollywood. But this one fails because there’s nothing romantic, exciting or emotionally resonant about looking at row upon row of warehouse-like soundstages, even if they are where the proverbial magic is made. And it doesn’t help that the image is probably too distant to look like anything identifiable anyway unless you are really concentrating, which you are not, unless you are scrutinizing it on YouTube in order to blog about it. Another problem with this logo is the sky background. Columbia proved that with CGI you can make clouds look amazing. So why is Warner still rolling with what looks like a matte painting from the ’40s? It’s jarring, especially since the shield itself has had a 3D, CGI sheen since 1998. I don’t think this logo concept provides very much to work with compared to some of the others, but I still think WB is really dropping the ball here.

Well, that ends my review of the Big Six, though there are dozens more logos like them in the wide world of film production and distribution, including a few real gems. I think my personal favorite might be that of Skydance Productions , which, for some beautifully inexplicable reason, shows the letters of its name being released into zero-gravity space by elaborate vice-crane contraptions in the vicinity of the Sun. I’m also a big fan of those of Marvel and DC , which in my estimation express a similar idea—the mythmaking power of the comics medium—in admirably different ways: Marvel by overwhelming the screen with the vastness of its canon, and DC by showing rays of weightiness emanating from those iconic building blocks of comics, the Ben-Day dots . Hollywood has been owing much to these companies lately , and I think it could learn a lot from their movie logos too. Like this: Paramount Pictures announces lush new logo. How does it compare to past ones? – EW.com Pinterest To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Paramount Pictures announced today that starting with Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, the studio will unveil its newest logo.

It’s a lush, photo-realistic variation of the classic mountain peak that has made up the studio’s logo since it was conceived in 1916. Check out the full version below (in 2013, the “100 Years” graphic will, of course, be removed): I’m a real design nut, so seeing this picturesque image had me wondering how this compares to logos from Paramount’s past. To wit: This is the company’s very first logo, created in 1916, and already, the basics have been laid down: A single mountain peak; “Paramount” in a script-y typeface, with the “P” especially swirly; and everything framed by a semi-circle of five-pointed stars. Curiously, though, there are 23 stars in this logo, whereas the current version has 22. Most curious, indeed… By the 1950s, the logo went into full color, and the mountain vista was filled out with smaller peaks and even some trees. “A Paramount Picture” had become “A Paramount Release,” and the swoopy, swirly typeface had only become more so.

But the semi-circle of stars mystery continues: There are 24 in this logo. Yes, this is really important information. The 1970s were a time of iconoclastic, buck-the-system cool, so out went the realistic matte painting, and in came a graphic, blue-and-white abstract image instead. Ironically, it also harkened back to the simple, single mountain peak of the studio’s first logo. Star count: 22, where it has remained up to the newest version announced today. (In what may be the silliest request I’ve made as a journalist this year, I reached out to Paramount to ask about the changes to the stars; strangely, I have yet to hear back.) UPDATE! According to a Paramount rep (and many of you in the comments), those stars represent the first 22 actors who were contracted with the studio during the old studio system days. How this explains how the very first logo has 23 stars, and a subsequent logo has 24, has yet to be made clear, but I shall remain forever vigilant.

To celebrate Paramount’s 75th anniversary in 1987, the studio went back to the more realistic image of the mountain peak, this time shot as if at sunset (or sunrise). But this was no longer a static image: The camera pushes in on the mountain, as those 22 stars swoop in from the left and majestically encircle the peak. Fancy! The penultimate Paramount logo, unveiled in 2002 for the company’s 90th anniversary, took advantage of modern CG effects, and had those stars flying across the wispy clouds, as if reflected inside the “P” of the Paramount script-y typeface itself. But it looks as if we’ve moved more mid-day: So what do you make of our little jaunt through Paramount logo history? Which version is your favorite? Top 10 Classic Movie Studio Logo Animations - Toptenz.net Toptenz.net Posted by Shell Harris on July 30, 2008 in Arts , Movies & Television | 7,348 Views | 15 Responses The best part of a movie is rarely the movie studio’s logo at the beginning, unless you are watching a really bad movie.

But we all can admit to being a little excited when seeing some of the following logos because that means the movie will soon follow. Some of these logos were all but forgotten until I saw the movie clips and read this list. I am very pleased to present this very clever list of classic movie logos along with a trip down memory lane for some of us older movie buffs. Now turn down the lights and enjoy the movie…logos. 10. Selznick Logo The mansion in the Selznick logo was a set for of its earliest films. Along with Newman’s chime fanfare, it radiates an aura of dignity without the stuffiness of the old Fox logo. 9. 20th Century Fox Logo Alfred Newman’s fanfare is the best known of all studio musical signatures. And the spotlights scream “Hollywood”. But I love best of all the new mobile CGI logo; what was stodgy and staid is now vivid and exciting, and I go for those spotlights swooping to the fanfare! 8. Warner Brothers Logo The Warners shield started in the silent days, then came “The Jazz Singer” and it evolved into the classic version we know and love.

From Bugs Bunny to Bogart and Cagney, from old-style title card to CGI glamour, the old Art Deco shield keeps getting better as time goes by! 7. Universal Animation Logo Would you believe Carl Laemmle named Universal after seeing a pipe fitting wagon? The airplane going around the globe with “A Universal Picture coming after was pretty classy. Sadly, the globe became too bland in the decades after. But now its CGI treatment has given it new glory, and it’s my favorite version too! 6. Rank The Rank gong man is one of the most portentous looking and sounding logos, right up there with MGM’s Leo. Was it inspired by the title sequence of “Gunga Din”? It stands with London Films’ Big Ben and surpasses the Gainsborough lady in my opinion; I believe this and the Archers’ target are Britain’s best film logos. 5. Columbia Ah, the Lady with the Lamp! Whether she was inspired by the Statue of Liberty or not, she’s preceded practically everyone from Frank Capra to the Three Stooges. Remember ‘The Mouse That Roared” and what the Lady did? She looks even better now in her CGI incarnation. 4.

Paramount The star-haloed mountain was inspired by a real one in Utah (and the studio’s name from a N.Y. apartment house!). It has signified “paramount” entertainment since the silents. And I think the new moving CGI logo is the best of all versions of this favorite of mine! 3. RKO The radio tower on the globe symbolizes the merger of RCA with the Keith-Orpheum Vaudeville chain, and RKO started at the outset of the early sound era. The beeping tower has introduced King Kong, Charles Foster Kane, Astaire and Rogers, and all those other great RKO classics. I just love it! 2. The Archers Editor’s Note: The Archers Logo does not show up at first in the movie clip. It begins 20 seconds into the clip. At first Michael Powell co-founded Westminster Pictures with Big Ben its logo, until Alex Korda stole it for his London Films. Then Powell co-directed the 1940 classic “Thief of Baghdad” and with his partner Emeric Pressburger was inspired by an arrow-shooting scene to use the now-familiar arrow in the target.

It’s heralded many of their best films: “Red Shoes”, “Black Narcissus”, “49th Parallel” et al. It’s one of my all-time favorites too and redolent of the Robin Hood legends (appropriate for an English studio). 1. MGM What can I say? All the movies Leo has preceded…”Singin’ In The Rain”, ‘Wizard of Oz”, “Harvey Girls”…Howard Dietz, who wrote the lyrics for “Dancing in the Dark” and others, adapted the lion from his old alma mater, Columbia. (Ironic,huh?) And it’s still loved today. As the Bard said “Well roared, Lion!” Submitted by Terry Bigham The Straight Dope: What mountain is depicted in the Paramount logo? Why do women laugh hysterically? A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge What mountain is depicted in the Paramount logo? Why do women laugh hysterically? January 4, 2002 Would like some enlightenment on the following: (1) Which is the mountain depicted in the logo of Paramount Pictures? (2) Why do women laugh hysterically?

— Rajeev Balakrishnan, Hyderabad, India Cecil replies: I turned this one over to my assistant Jill, thinking to hone her skills on a couple softballs. She riposted as follows: (1) Mount Everest. (2) Because of men. "Now, Jill," I said, "millions rely on the Straight Dope as their primary information resource. We mustn't settle for the cheap laugh. Are you sure you've thoroughly explored these answers?" "Well," she said, "I could be wrong about Mount Everest." One despairs. However, as it turned out, the identity of the mountain was the weak link of the entire investigation. (And yes, I know it doesn't make any conceivable difference. It's the principle of thing.) The people we initially spoke to at Paramount thought it was Mount Everest, but we strongly suspected these people had no idea whatsoever. (This is a common phenomenon in the entertainment business.) Inquiring further, we learned that: (1) Paramount was originally a film distribution company founded by William Wadsworth Hodkinson. (2) Hodkinson had sketched the company logo based on memories of mountains from his youth near Ogden, Utah.

(3) Although Hodkinson's biography doesn't specify a particular mountain, many people familiar with the area believe it was Mount Ben Lomond (9,712 feet), in the Wasatch Range. Every time we called Paramount to confirm this we got a different story, but the consensus seems to be that, while Hodkinson didn't necessarily have one mountain in mind, Ben Lomond is a conspicuous landmark in the Ogden area and would have figured prominently in his mental construct of a generic mountain. For what it's worth, just about every tourist outfit in Utah proclaims that the Paramount mountain is Ben Lomond as a matter of settled fact. (4) At least one Paramount historian (Leslie Halliwell) prefers to call the picturesque peak the Mountain of Dreams. Oh, my. (5) But maybe it's the … Mountain of Nightmares! At least one conspiracy theorist (see )* believes that the mountain, actually a pyramid in disguise, is an emblem of the Illuminati, the well-known secret cabal.

He points to other pyramids, triangles, or stylized letter As in the logos of companies such as Viacom, America Online, and — this one especially caught my eye — Creative Labs, maker of Sound Blaster computer sound cards. (Check out the A in both Creative and Blaster. The bastards are rubbing it in.) All are tools of the conspiracy. The kicker, however, is a pyramid with a radiating eyeball of power on what I take to be banknotes issued by the Bank of Estonia. Yowsah, one thinks. Maybe this guy is on to something. (6) Nah. (*Link no longer works. Uh-oh.) (7) Anyway, the logo was redesigned a while back and to my mind now depicts pretty much Anymountain, rendering this whole discussion moot. (8) Answer to question number two above remains "because of men." You don't see women posting crap about the Bank of Estonia. One last thing. Toward the end of our research, another urgent issue came to light. Why did the Paramount mountain originally have 24 stars surrounding it, when now there are only 22?

We've considered the matter deeply, and here is our answer: (1) We don't know, and (2) We don't care.

Question: The 'Majestic Mountain' is the symbol of which film studio?
Answer: PARAMOUNT